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Hi guys, been learning lots over the past month or so. Lots of great info. First I'll start with my truck specs: 2015 xlt, supercrew, 5.0, 4x4,3.55, with towing package. I think the payload is 1971lbs according to the sticker on my door jamb. The reason I bought the f150 was to tow my summerland 1800bh. The dry weight is 3185lbs. I'm guessing I'm around 4000lbs with gear in it. I used my sienna to tow it last summer but wasn't comfortable with it, hence the f150. My question is should I use my husky WD system that I used with my van (I will have to readjust it ofcourse), or should I just use a regular receiver? I think I read that if the trailer is under 5000lbs there is no need to use a WD system. Is there any advantage to using the husky system or is my trailer too light for it to matter? Thanks in advance. If I left out any important info let me know and I will provide it.
i believe the hitch is rated for 5k lbs max without a WDH, as you say, so you shouldn't need it. if your Sienna could tow it, the F150 will be laughing
I think I read that if the trailer is under 5000lbs there is no need to use a WD system.
Ford says that if your hitch weight is more than 500 pounds a WD hitch is REQUIRED. Your 1800BH has GVWR of 3,940 pounds, so 500 pounds would be 12.7% of 3940. But your dry hitch weight is 13.8% of the dry weight of the trailer, so you can expect about that percent as you load the trailer. When you load the trailer for a camping trip, your hitch weight is probably going to exceed 500 pounds.
TTs have an average tongue weight of about 13% and some go as high as 15%. So yours with 13.8% hitch weight is not unusual. It's about the same as my 21' TT.
That's a long-winded version to say, in a nutshell, yes, you need a WD hitch. Since you already have the hitch, install it, adjust it properly so that 50% t0 60% of gross tongue weight remains on the rear axle of the tow vehicle, and then use it when you tow that trailer.
Is there any advantage to using the husky system or is my trailer too light for it to matter?
No such thing as a trailer too light for it to matter. A WD hitch is required when the hitch weight is 500 pounds or more, but there's no rule about how light the trailer has to be before you must remove the spring bars of the hitch.. I often tow my empty cargo trailer that has hitch weight of about 300 pounds and use the WD hitch when I tow it, empty or loaded to the gills. Of course I have to adjust he hitch based on the load in the trailer, but that's a 5-minute job after you have some experience in doing it.
The properly-adjusted WD hitch distributes some of the hitch weight off the rear axle of your tow vehicle and onto the trailer axles and the front axle. For an empty or near-empty trailer, the advantage of using the WD hitch is not weight distribution as much as sway control. You definitely want that sway control system doing its job when towing, regardless of hitch weight.
Last edited by smokeywren; 03-11-2016 at 06:32 PM.
If you look up underneath your hitch receiver, you will likely see a sticker like this one. It says the maximum tongue weight without a WDH is 500 lbs. That tongue weight also includes any cargo in the truck bed behind the axle. That weight is also acting to lift the front of the truck. My Ford manual says apply enough tension on the WDH bars to restore half of the weight removed from the front wheels by the rear cargo. That is approximated by measuring how much the front fender rises when the load is applied, and then adjusting the WDH until the fender is lowered half way back to the unloaded height. What you are doing is regaining steering and braking control to the front tires of the truck. What they are telling you is that 500 lbs. applied behind the rear axle is enough to be concerned about. How much steering and braking control are you willing to forego? I will admit that I have pulled an enclosed cargo trailer with a 300 lb. tongue weight without a WDH.
If you have it use it. I rented a 28 foot Cougar last year and the rental yard, that supplied the ball mount, stepped back and looked at the trailer (fairly level) and said "you don't need the sway bars". What an idiot. I white-knuckled the trailer up I-35 in a strong wind, and I wish I knew then what I know now.
i'm no specialist but I doubt the hitch ratings account for anything in the bed?? how does a load in the bed affect the hitch itself? I understand the effect on payload and rear axle ratings in combination with the tongue weight of the trailer, but the hitch?
...how does a load in the bed affect the hitch itself?
Any load behind the rear axle in the bed is considered to be part of hitch weight. So total hitch weight would be tongue weight of the trailer, plus the weight of the WD hitch, plus any weight in the bed behind the axle.
So if you have 400 pounds tongue weight, plus 60 pounds weight of the shank and ball mount of the WD hitch, plus 100 pounds toolbox behind the rear axle of the pickup, then your total hitch weight is more than 500 pounds and you require a WD hitch.
mhm, you obviously know more than me when it comes to WDH, but that sounds like a freakin' back-assward way to calculate hitch weight... learn something everyday, I guess...
i'm no specialist but I doubt the hitch ratings account for anything in the bed?? how does a load in the bed affect the hitch itself? I understand the effect on payload and rear axle ratings in combination with the tongue weight of the trailer, but the hitch?
It doesn't affect the hitch, but it does lift the front of the truck, and the WDH tension bars have to pull that much harder to transfer weight and lower the front of the truck back down.
A pound of weight behind the the rear axle exerts almost as much lifting force on the front of the truck as a pound of weight on the hitch. It just depends on how far behind the axle the weight is applied.
03-11-2016, 05:17 PM
Should I use my WD hitch?
